Well elevator



' July 3, 1923.

H. M. HARRIS WELL ELEVATOR Filed Jail. 11 1921 Patented July 3, 1923.

@HE st rs HU IE. HARRIS, OE CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE, ASSIGNOR TO LUCEYMANUFACTUR-.

ING- CQRPOBLATION, OF CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE, A CORPORATION OF TENNES-SEE.

WELL ELEVATOR.

Application filed January 11, 1921. Serial No. 436,468.

To all [whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, Ho M. I-Lunus, a citizen of the United States,residing at Ghattanooga, in the county of Hamilton and State ofTennessee, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin WellElevators; and I do.hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming part of this specification. v

This invention relates to latch locking mechanism for elevators such asthose used in well drilling apparatus, theelevator beutilized forelevating and lowering the well casing. Elevators of this type usuallycomprise a body portion having lateral extensions for attachment of thesuspension means and a gate member hinged at one end to the body, thegate being adapted to be opened for inserting. the casing or removing itfrom the elevator. A latch .mecha- V nism is provided for latching thegate 1n closed position, after the casing has been 1nserted in theelevator, and it sometimes occurs that the latch is accidentallydisengaged and. the casing is free to become displaced from theelevator, endangering the persons engaged on the work and possiblycausing a loss of apparatus, due to breakage,

should the casing be displaced.

One object of the present invention is to provide an additional lockingmechanismthat will engage and positively prevent the 85 latch becomingunlatched while a casing 1s being moved by the elevator, but .at othertimes, for example, when there is no casing in the elevator, will beentirely disengaged from the latch whereby the latter may be readilyactuated by the: operator to open the gate of the elevator. A furtherobject is to position the locking mechanism in one of the elevatormembers in such manner that it will not be apt to be injured b the loadon t e elevator, and will not be accidentally detachable from theelevator.

In the accompanyin draw g Figgre 1 is an elevation of the elevator, thegate ing shown partially open and a sectio'nof casing positioned withinthe elevator- F ig. 2 is a view, partly broken away for the purpose ofillustration, showing the gate 56 closed and the latch locked;

"hinged end, to permit ing within the bore of the strains imposedthereon by Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2

The elevator shown in the accompanying drawings is of the type now incommon use, consisting principally of the main body portion 10 havinglateral extension 11 for attachment of the usual suspension links, and agate member 12 hinged at one end to the body portion 10. Gate member 12is adapted to be opened, by swinging it on its insertion of thecaselevator, after which the gate is closed. The main body portion 10and gate 12, when closed, completelyencirclethe casing, the casing beingretained in the elevator by a collar 13 formedat the end of the casingengaging the upperfaces 14 of the'gate and body members.

After the gate has been closed around the casing it is adapted to belatched in its closed position and while these retaining means may beofany desired form, this invention not being limited to any particularform of latch, the latch is preferably constructed as shown in theaccompanying drawings. Said latch comprises. spaced catches 15 formedintegrally 10 and a combined handle and T-shaped latch 16 pivoted on apin 17 .mounted in ears 18 formed on the gate 12. Latch l6'is normallyheld in position to interlock with the catches, 15 by a spring 19 coiledaround pin 17, and the free end of gate 12 is cut away or recessed asindicated at 20 to receive the latch when it is thrown to the unlockingposition. This form of latch has been fully described and illustrated inPatent No. 1,380,513, granted June 7, 1921, to Lucey ManufacturingCorporation, assignee of this application and further description forthe purposes of the present invention is believed unnecessary.

Seated in a recess 21 formed adjacent the free end of gate 12 is aplunger 22 movable parallel to the bore of the elevator. One end ofplunger 22 is enlarged, as at 23, and a sprin 24 is interposed betweenthe opposite en of the plunger and the bottom of recess 21 for thepurpose of yieldingly supporting the plunger head 23 above the loadengaging surface ofthe gate. As shown, the plunger 22 is preferablypositioned adjacent'the outer wall of the gate 12 and the enlarged head23 is offset with respect to the with the body plunger proper andextends inwardly to the inner wall of said gate. This greatly relievesthe plunger of strains exerted by the casing and at the same timeinsures the collar 13 of the casing engaging the plunger head.

Mounted on the plunger 22 is a laterally projecting pin 25 extendingthrough a slot 26 formed in the end face of the free end of the gate andcommunicating with the recess 21. Slot 26 is of sufiicient length topermit the plunger 22 to move pin 25 to a position where it will notengage the latch head 16 when the plunger is. projected to its normalposition by spring 24, the upper end wall of said slot 26 forming a stopfor limiting the upward movement of the plunger and pin. lVhen, however,the easing has been placed within the elevator, the gate 12 closed, andthe casing collar 13 comes down on the bearing surface of the elevator,said collar will engage head 23 of the plunger and depress the latterdownwardly in the recess 21. This movement of the plunger causes pin 25to be moved down behind the latch head 16, the length of said pin 25being a trifle less than the distance between plunger 22 and said latchhead, whereby the latch head cannot be moved far enough to disengage itfrom the catch 15. In this-manner the latching mechanism is alwayseffectually locked whenever the gate is closed around. a casingsupported within the elevator.

Pin 25 extends parallel to the path of travel of latch head 16 and isnot, therefore, placed under any lateral strains, thus re ducing theliability of the pin being broken.

What is claimed is 2.

1. In a well elevator comprising a body and a gate hinged at one end tothe body, the combination of a catch, a latch adapted to engage saidcatch when the gate is closed, and means for locking said latch inclosed position, said locking means being spaced from said latchingmechanism and operable by the load imposed on the elevator.

2. In a well elevator comprising a body and a gate hinged thereto, thecombination of a catch and cooperating latch carried by said body andgate, a separate. locking element' movable into and out of engagementwith the latching mechanism, and means operable upon imposition of aload on the elevator for moving said locking element into engagementwith said latching mechanism. 3. In a well elevator comprising a bodyand a gate hinged at one end to the body, the combination of a catch, 'alatch adapted to 'engage said catch, a plunger adapted to be depressedby the load on the elevator,

and a locking element carried by said plunger and movable intoengagement with the gate latch upon imposition of the load on theelevator.

4. In a well casing elevator comprisin a body and a gate hinged at oneend to said: body, the combination of a catch, a latch adapted to engagesaid catch, a plunger normally projecting beyond the load supportingsurface of theelevator, a locking element carried by the plunger andmovable into engagement with the gate latch upon imposition of a loadupon the elevator, and means for returning said plunger and lockingelement to their normal positions upon removal of the load from theelevator, whereby the latch may be disengaged.

5. In a well elevator comprising a body and a gate hinged thereto, thecombination of a catch, a latch adapted to engage said catch, a plungercarried in the gate and movable substantially parallel to the bore ofthe elevator, a locking pin carried by the plunger and movable in onedirection to engage the latch, and a stop for limiting the movement ofthe pin and plunger in the opposite direction.

6. In a well elevator comprising a body and a gate hinged at one end tothe body, the combination of a catch, a latch adapted to engage saidcatch, a plunger carried by the gate and normally positioned with oneend above the load sustaining surface of the elevator whereby the loadplaced upon the elevator will engage and depress said plunger, a lockingpin carried by the plunger and movable in one direction to engage thelatch, and means for returning the plunger and pin to their normalpositions upon removal of the load from the elevator.

7. In a well elevator comprising a body and a gate hinged thereto, thecombination of a latching mechanism, a plunger carried by the gate andnormally projecting above the load sustaining surface of the latter, theprojecting end of the plunger being 011"- set toward the bore of theelevator, and a locking element carried by the plunger and movable intoand out "of engagement with the latching mechanism.

8. In a well elevator the combination of a body member, a gate memberhinged to the body, there being a recess and a slot extending from saidrecessto the exterior of one of said members, cooperating latchingelements on said elevator members, a plunger mounted in said recess, anda projection on said plunger extending through said slot and movableinto engagement with one of said latching elements.

.HU M. HARRIS.

